


Fatherhood has Made You a Strange Man

by Secondprinces



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: just father and young daughter fluff mostly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-30
Updated: 2016-12-30
Packaged: 2018-09-13 10:57:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9120649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Secondprinces/pseuds/Secondprinces
Summary: Niles makes lunch for his young daughter.  Just small, goofy fluff!





	

**Author's Note:**

> My Fates Secret Santa gift for @Gingerybiscuit (twitter), who requested parent-child interactions. I chose to make Nina pretty young b/c I wanted to show a softer side to Niles.
> 
> I've never really thought about how to write Niles before this, so I hope this is alright! Happy holidays!

These hands had seen poverty and war.  Years of living on the street gave nimble fingers a certain grace needed for picking locks and handling blades.  Slight-of-hand and thievery were second nature—and pickpocketing a delicate art. 

War brought callouses from plucking bowstrings and swinging blades.  Scars laced hardened palms and chapped knuckles.  Reigns cut permanent imprints into his fingers.  Even the caress of lovers found weathered skin and little sensation.

But such hands had never known braids until Nina was born.

Nina was six years old, her mother long gone and Niles left much to his own devices while Lord Leo held court.  Much of this involved wrangling his hyperactive child.

“Nina, sit still.”

Nina did the opposite.  She had been climbing up onto the chair, teetering on the tips of her toes as she reached up for the jar of sweets Niles kept in the top cabinet. 

Niles sighed and caught her without a second glance as she toppled over backwards.  He set her down on the floor.

“Now you know why that’s a bad idea.”

Nina grinned.  She was missing a few teeth.  “It’s okay, Papa.  I have you to catch me!”

“I hope that’s always the case.”  He hummed and continued to beat a bowl of eggs with a fork.  The pan on the stove was already warming.  The eggs sizzled a little as he dumped them in.

They shared a little apartment set off of Leo’s chambers.  It was self-sufficient, with a stove heating the corner and a little table pushed against the opposite wall.  Nina often kept it decorated with little twigs and leaves she found scattered around the forest; Nohr lacked a lot in wildflowers.  For the time being, Niles and Nina shared a room, with Niles’s bed against the wall and a little trundle beside his for Nina. 

He made short work of the omelet, chucking in extra cheese guaranteed for a toothy grin from his baby, then flipped it and slid it onto a plate.  Steam rose from it, so he placed it to the side until it cooled.

“Ni-Na,” he said, in his usual gruff voice, as he pulled up a chair.  “Let’s braid your hair so it doesn’t get tangled while you play outside later.”

She climbed into it, and Niles squatted down.  Before, he’d garnered help from Elise, but deft fingers had learned to weave hair quickly.  Taking a comb, he was able to part Nina’s hair neatly into pigtails, which he braided tightly and efficently.  He secured them with little ribbons, patted her head, then turned to cut up Nina’s lunch.

Nina hummed little songs at him, playing with the tips of her braids while she swung her feet back and forth in her chair.

“Papa, I’m not hungry yet!”

Niles raised the eyebrow over his good eye.  “And why’s that?  You insulting my cooking?”

She grinned, bright and devilish.  “Yes!”

Niles made a sound as if struck, clutching his heart.  “Ach, you wound me!”

Nina’s grin broadened. 

Niles smirked back.  “You know what this means.  Sadly, I have to win back my honor.”

Eyes widening into dinnerplates, Nina shook her head.  “Noooooooo.”

Niles pounced.  Giggles erupted from his baby as he tickled Nina, her arms and legs flailing and tears streaming.  He scooped her up and held her by her feet, her pigtails sweeping the ground.

“What was that?  My food horrible?”

Between peals of laughter, Nina nodded her head.  “The worst!”

Niles wrangled her upright again, shaking his head with a mock scowl.  “Well, you still have to eat it.” 

He plopped her down in her chair and put it before her, watching her until she took a few bites.  She seemed to enjoy it, as quickly as she gobbled it down.

“That’s what I thought,” he said, turning at the sound of knocking.

Leo was standing in the doorframe, finally rapping his knuckle against it, a bemused smirk on his face.

“Fatherhood has made you a strange man,” he said.

Niles scoffed.  “Is that all you can here to say, M’lord?  Or did you want to be tickled too?”

Leo hummed a response and clicked his tongue.  “I came to ask if you’d accompany me to Hoshido.  Elise offered to watch the children.  Tch, imagine having to find babysitters for your retainers.  Since when did I say you could swear your life to anyone but me.”

Niles noted the teasing lilt to an otherwise dry voice.  “I suppose you’ll just have to learn to share,” he said.  “You’ll understand once yours is born.  What is it, a month til?”

Leo’s expression softened.  “I expect I will…”

Niles raised both his eyebrows.  “Feeling overwhelmed at the idea?”

Shaking his head, Leo shrugged.  “Bringing a new life into the world—one that’s dependent on you in so many ways.  You must know my apprehension.”

“You’ll find you’ll rise to the occasion.  Even an old dog like me did.” Niles said, a rare note of seriousness in his voice.  He glanced back at Nina.  “Everything will change and you won’t know how you survived before.”


End file.
